WITH JAGGED peaks and pancake-flat meadows precariously close through aircraft windows, the low-flying approach to Innsbruck airport is something special.
Arriving with élan, geed up for an Alpine experience without donning skis, there is no need to rush out of a city that has its own charms as well as constant visual reminders that mountains are the star attraction.
Instantly attractive, Innsbruck has a designer hotel, The Penz, a five-storey glass house with a pine tree growing atop and a rooftop bar that achieves an Alpine-urban buzz when live music is played to a distant backdrop of daunting crags.
The top floor is also the setting for breakfasts that excel with a myriad of original conserves and an unmatchable choice of exotic fruits; rambutan, dragon and cactus fruit, tamarillo make an unexpected appearance.
There is no restaurant but a short stroll brings you to Weitsicht, on the rooftop of a twelfth-floor hotel, where a table on the terrace is hard to beat for watching the sun go down; after-dinner drinks at a bar awaits one floor above and is open until midnight for spritzers and proseccos.
Exterior of The Penz Hotel
For memorable mountain moments, Innsbruck’s funicular railway and two cable-car rides trundle you to the summit of Hafelkarspitze (2,334m) for easy walking trails and spectacular vistas to the north and south.
Back at ground level, the Hofkirche (Court Church) in the old part of town appeals to history and architecture buffs, though the beatific calm of the adjoining monastery cloister vies for attention with the tomb and bronze statues of the showy early Renaissance church interior.
Skiless in Tyrol means walking and a good place to start is Mösern, easily reached in an hour from Innsbruck by train and bus. You could stay here for a night, leave your luggage until you return and set off with a backpack for two days of rambling along signposted forest rails and the crossing of a stupendous gorge on a super-sturdy steel walkway and bridge.
This is an easy-peasy trek – your first destination being the Brunschkopf viewing platform at 1500m where the breath-taking views are astonishing considering it only takes a gentle 1-hour ascent though a pine and beech forest to reach it. From here, a trail leads down to a plateau at Wildmoosalm where a café serves drinks and meals.
The trail continues on to Katzenkopf, ideal for a lunch break, before descending to the small town of Weidach. There is the option of a chair-lift descent from Katzenkopf but the whole route on foot from Mösern to Weidach is undemanding and takes five hours at the most.
View of the mountains
A cake buffet followed by a steam bath, Finnish sauna or Kraxenöfen, appealing necessities after a day of walking, are welcoming parts of a stay at Leutascherhof, a splendid health-conscious hotel in Weidach. The best rooms – some with their own sauna – are in the new block, with formidably large mountains staring in through the windows. A delightful organic restaurant (with vegan choices) is perfect for a meal before retiring for a sound night’s sleep.
Summer in the Alps
The walk out of Weidach next morning follows a crystal-clear river, the Leutascher Ache, heading north towards the border with Bavaria and the mighty Leutasch Gorge which was considered impassable until the first decade of this century when an Austro-German project constructed walkways and bridges above it.
A peaceful spot for a mid-morning strudel break is the green lawn at Gasthof Brűcke while Lunch is best enjoyed at Klammstűberl, just before the entrance to the gorge, a café/restaurant with fine views from its sun terrace. The steep sides of the gorge make crossing it feel death-defying but the wobble-less steel structure makes for a sense of adventure along its 800-m length.
Bavarian Mittenwald
At what point the open border with Bavaria is crossed is not clear but if you continue walking into Mittenwald you are definitely in Germany and from here trains run south back to Scharnitz – by now you’re back in Austria – and on to Seefeld where excellent accommodation awaits mere metres from the railway station.
The hotel is Henri and, as with the end of the first day’s walk, a sauna and steam bath are on hand for tired bodies while the garden area and lounge is particularly comfortable for a drink from the 24-hour serve-yourself bar.
Sun or snow, Seefeld is a popular Tyrolean town which means no shortage of restaurants in the pedestrianized quarter. Trains take only fifteen minutes to return you to Mösern for collecting your luggage.
Sunrise
With sublime scenery, unchallenging walking trails and an envious public transport system, skis are not necessary in Austria’s Tyrol.
by Sean Sheehan
Hiking in the Seefeld region has detailed information and maps on walking routes; for hiking in Austria as a whole, see Summer Walking; and for information about Innsbruck, see Tourism Innsbruck